#nothingtohide!

On Friday, February 15, we went with a number of clients to the premiere of #nothingtohide by De Verleiders at Theater Carré. The performance immediately started with a joke about De Verleiders' performance on De Wereld Draait Door, which had caused quite a commotion. To promote their new show #nothingtohide, they gave a sneak peek on DWDD about how the government, companies and intelligence services violate privacy by closely monitoring our internet behavior. All kinds of data experts immediately got on their hind legs and even Minister van Ollongren jumped to the defense of the AIVD.

We live in a world where you think you have no secrets, until you find out what big companies do with your information and how much they actually know about you. You think you have nothing to hide from these companies, but you probably also have secrets you didn't even know you had! The news you see, for example, is determined by your previous clicks, your recent but also your previous purchases, the place where you live and work and the places you visit. Based on this, a complete profile can be compiled about what kind of person you are, what you like to eat, and what kind of places you visit. De Verleiders therefore call the smartphone: the sarcophagus of our soul.

Before social media became so big, there was a time when there was a clear distinction between what was news and what was commercial. Newspapers and journalists reliably conveyed news and other types of media were often commercial. The new technologies that emerged gave high expectations, but also appear to have negative effects.

Nowadays, the distinction between good and bad has become vaguer. The line between reliable news and commercial messages has become thin: Facebook is full of 'fake news' and other news you see in your Facebook feed is based on your personal profile. This has also made the distinction between good and bad unclear. This is the new reality we live in.

At BR-ND, we think it's important to act consciously about this and therefore we prefer not to work for brands that mislead and manipulate the public via the internet. Fortunately, there are also new media companies that approach things differently in this modern age. The Correspondent, for example, is an independent and ad-free journalistic website. They don't use the new social possibilities for power expansion or self-interest, but for spreading objective and reliable news.

Incidentally, we are fully confident that a counter-reaction and positive shift will take place. Partly through pieces like #nothingtohide by De Verleiders. They theatrically expose the government commissions, there is scheming, mutual blackmail, job hunting and fudging of figures.

In this way, the importance of the role of creative people in our society is emphasized. They can as "fools of society" with verbal violence expose all kinds of conspiracy theories that have much more impact on the public than when we "ordinary" people say this. They sharply question social themes, whereby De Verleiders manage to be invited twice to DWDD, the third most watched TV program in the Netherlands, to talk about these subjects. The media should actually be used to make this world a better place!